1. Field of the Invention
This invention relates to cooling system assemblies in a motor vehicle, and in particular to fan assemblies which are connected to a radiator or condenser of a heat exchanger assembly.
2. Background of the Invention
Cooling systems for motor vehicles typically include a heat exchanger through which a coolant flows after passing through parts of an engine. Air passes over or through portions of the heat exchanger to cool the coolant before it is re-circulated back into the engine. Many heat exchangers utilize fins to increase the surface area of the heat exchanger over which the air flows in order to increase the efficiency of the heat exchange from the coolant to the air.
Fan assemblies are often used to help flow air across the heat exchanger. Due to various sizes of vehicles and their associated heat exchangers, the fan assemblies sometimes do not fit very easily it to the engine compartment adjacent the heat exchanger. Moreover, many times a single fan is used, leaving a large area of the heat exchanger without much assistance in air flow across the fins, thereby decreasing the efficiency of the heat exchanger. Furthermore, many fan assemblies are manufactured in a manner that does not allow the fan assemblies to be used across various sizes of heat exchangers. For example, prior fan assemblies often included mounting mechanisms that were molded to fit a specific size of a fan with a particular size of heat exchanger.
Prior fan assemblies are made so that one side is substantially flat and one side has the motor for the fan or impeller protruding beyond the fan screen. Therefore, in prior fan assemblies, the substantially flat side is the side that must be mounted against the heat exchanger. Sometimes this requires the wiring to be reversed in order to change the direction of rotation of the fan or impeller blades and thereby ensure that air is flowing across the heat exchanger in the proper direction. Such rewiring is necessary so that cool air from outside of the engine compartment is flows across the fins rather than hot air from inside of the engine compartment.